When Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors expressed his willingness to sign a maximum contract extension, according to The Athletic, he gave another heavy financial punch to the team which is already struggling over extending contracts of franchise cores.

The Warriors won the NBA Championship in the past 2021-22 season at the cost of record $362 million of salaries and luxury tax combined. The number is likely to grow much bigger in the future because Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson and Green will all begin negotiate new deals either this or next summer.

Both Poole and Wiggins still have one year left of their current contracts with the Warriors while Thompson and Green have two.

Theoretically, Poole is eligible to get a five-year, $188 million rookie extension but that won't happen. The likely number will be a four-year, $100 million-to-$110 million deal, similar to what the Portland Trail Blazers signed with Anfernee Simons and what the New York Knicks gave Jalen Brunson during this offseason.

Poole averaged 18.5 points, four assists and 2.8 triples at 36.4 percent for the Warriors last season. Though he started 51 games in the regular season, the team considered him more of bench scorer when their squad grew complete. More of Poole's shortcomings were exposed in the playoffs where defense became more physical and intense.

Wiggins already held preliminary extension talks with the Warriors this week but no progress has been achieved yet, according to The Athletic. If he wants a maximum extension, it can be as much as a four-year, $146.4 million contract, which will cost the team some $280 million including tax.

Wiggins was not the Warriors' top three scoring options in the 2021-22 season after averaging 17.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.2 triples at 39.3 percent during the regular season. However, his defensive performance in containing Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum in the playoffs was too memorable and irreplaceable. Moreover, he was the team's only forward who was able to break the opponents' defense in the hard way.

Thompson is probably the Warriors' smallest concern over extension. The fact that the team was willing to sign him the five-year, $190 million extension in 2019 summer after he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee showed how much the two sides trusted each other. So was the Warriors' patience of spending over two seasons waiting for him to come back.

Thompson will make $83.8 million in the coming two seasons. Though his return was very inspiring to the Warriors last season, averaging 20.4 points and 3.6 triples at 38.5 percent in 32 games already showed him slipping. He will turn 34 years old when his current deal ends in 2024 summer. Thompson may be the least motivated of the four to negotiate a max extension.

By contrast, Green makes a trickier case than the other three. Like Thompson, he still has two years left of his current contract, but Green has a player option for the 2023-24 season. He will be eligible to sign an extension after August 3 and reportedly wants a four-year, $141.2 million deal.

Green played one of the most unique roles in the Warriors. On one hand, his stats remained poor at 7.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and seven assists per game last season. His offensive underperformance made him a true dead weight on this end of the game. Nonetheless, Green was still the team's defensive pillar on the small-ball squad. He also provided passion and energy on the court, which were important in the postseason.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement rules won't keep the Warriors from paying Poole, Wiggins, Thompson and Green the best money they expect if the team wants to. But a potential total number of $564 million including salaries and tax for the 2023-24 season will make Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob think twice.

"Those numbers are not even remotely possible," Lacob said in June and he was talking about reaching $400 million, which was a huge step away from the above number.

Usually, players' best leverage during contract extensions is the offer by other teams. However, Poole, Wiggins, Thompson and Green are unlikely to use that weapon for the best.

Thompson has the simplest case. He is an epic 3-point shooter and reliable defender. His touch is likely to stay despite aging but his footsteps won't. 35-year-old Ray Allen signed a two-year, $20 million extension with the Boston Celtics in 2010 summer when the salary cap was $58 million for the 2010-11 campaign. By contrast, Thompson will make over $40 million in the 2022-23 season when the salary cap is around $123.6 million.

Poole has been growing fast in the past three years but he has made the most progress in developing his shooting and penetration skills. He still lacks good enough playmaking and defensive abilities to make a starting role in a playoff team. Many considered being Brunson overpaid for his four-year, $104 million contract with the Knicks. Without the support of the Warriors' system, Poole won't necessarily do better than Brunson.

Wiggins benefited from the Warriors' system as well. When he entered the NBA as "Maple Jordan," he was seen as the leader of the Minnesota Timberwolves and many kept criticizing him for not playing like one. After playing eight seasons in the league, Wiggins finally found his proper role in the Warriors. He didn't make too much change of how he played, but he was selected into the All-Star Game for the first time and pocketed his first ring.

Green has benefitted the most from the Warriors' system which could tolerate his lack of individual offensive threat because Stephen Curry has been both willing and capable of attacking without the ball. Green's poor shooting and finishing abilities would no doubt limit his time under 30 minutes if not less in other teams. Furthermore, as an undersized big man, he relies too much on his athleticism while playing defense. At 32 years old, he was already on the down road for three seasons. So, when Green said he is willing to explore joining another team, he was not making a very legit threat.

Fairly speaking, it's within every player's rights to negotiate the best contract for himself. Many of them don't have the strong desire to sacrifice salaries for plural titles either. Meanwhile, even if Poole, Wiggins, Thompson and Green all agree to extension discounts, the Warriors unlikely to keep them all, because their payroll will still reach an enormous figure for their owners to pay.

The Warriors managed to dominate the NBA between 2015 and 2018 partly because both Curry and Thompson were underpaid. Then they failed in 2019 partly because their payroll was too big for them to add quality role players to the squad. The Warriors made the high risk decision in 2019 summer to keep heavy investments. They made it back to the throne last season in return. In 12 months, their expenditure will grow high enough to backfire again.

That is how difficult it is to stay competitive for the championship in the NBA.